I want to do an 8" round cake for a Navy wives dinner on Friday. It is to celebrate the halfway point of the deployment. I want to do something patriotic and fun. Does anyone have a good idea? I have had people say just make half of a cake and other people say make a mountain. I don't like the half of a cake idea. Thank you for your help.

As an Army wife, I have to say my first thought was a mountain as well. I'd put things that represent the stinky side of deployment on the first "uphill" side of the mountain-things like Holidays missed, broken appliances, maybe a book on cooking for one, a kid throwing a tantrum, missed phone call on a mini cell phone, etc. At the top i'd put a flag marking halfway, and on the opposite "downhill" side, I'd put positive stuff like maybe thought bubbles of "I love you" "almost done" and "soon". I would put things like spa-related stuff close to the bottom representing how we prepare ourselves for homecoming, maybe a paint can and brush and housecleaning stuff representing the rush to perfect the house, etc. At the bottom, have a reunited couple/family and maybe even some vacation stuff.

My other thought would be something with a map and a plane with those little dashes marking the flightpath and have the plane (or ship) doing a u-turn coming back home. Hope that helps!

You have some AWESOME ideas. I knew another military wife would know what to do! I LOVE the missed phone call. I ended up picking a cake to do that matched the theme of the cookies that the Captain's wife ordered.